I am a young man from a neighboring country seeking knowledge, and I have friends, but they are not committed, they smoke, and sometimes they play cards

The questioner : He says: May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh, for we love you for the sake of Allah. Second: I am a young man from a neighboring country seeking knowledge, and I have friends, but they are not committed, they smoke, and sometimes they play cards, but they—praise be to Allah—pray, and a few of them do not pray. However, I sit with them in the hope that I can reform them. I sometimes wait for an opportunity to preach and remind them, and this may take a day or more until the opportunity arises. What is the ruling on my sitting with them constantly until I travel to this country?

The Shaykh : I say: May Allah love the one who loves us for His sake, and I ask Allah the Exalted to make us all among His loved ones and the awliya (close friends of Allah). As for what he mentioned regarding the problem of staying with his companions who commit some sins, this is to be considered: if there is a benefit in his staying and it leads to preventing the sin or reducing it, then there is nothing wrong with it. Otherwise, it is not permissible for him to stay with them, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: meaning: if you sit and stay with them, you are like them. Yes.